Great Lakes Seaway Trail, NY and PA, June 5, 2012 -- As Nik Wallenda
prepares to walk over Niagara Falls, the newest book in the Great Lakes Seaway
Trail Guidebook Series - Sailors,
Keepers, Shipwrecks, and The Maid- tells the stories of the Falls’ first tightrope walkers and other daredevils,
the famous, and fascinating everyday people who have lived, worked, played and
traveled along the Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence
River shorelines in New York and Pennsylvania.

Readers will discover interesting details about American
Presidents, pirates, pioneers, chefs, lighthouse keepers, artists, and
adventurers in the collection of vignettes enhanced by historic photographs,
art, illustrations and maps.

Wayne County stories feature Captain Horatio Nelson Throop
of Pultneyville, the Fox sisters of Arcadia, and the Underground Railroad in
Sodus Bay.

The Maid in
the new book’s title is the Maid of
the Mist tour boat, a Niagara Falls tradition since 1846 and co-sponsor
of the book project.

The guide’s introduction encourages driving the full 518
miles of the National Scenic Byway and stopping at a series of Great Lakes
Seaway Trail “Outdoor Storyteller” signs to learn more facts about local
architecture, agriculture, maritime, military and natural history.

The new book is written by Steve Benson and published by the
nonprofit tourism promoter Seaway Trail, Inc., Sackets Harbor, NY. Benson is
also co-author of Great Lakes Seaway Trail’s French and Indian War guidebook Waterways of Way: The Struggle for Empire
1754-1763.

Learn more about the Great Lakes Seaway Trail series of
travel guides voted “Best of the Byways” by the American Recreation Coalition
online at www.seawaytrail.com or call
315-646-1000 x200.

Buffalo/Niagara Falls region stories in Sailors, Keepers, Shipwrecks, and the Maid include:
Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpieces, a tale of pistols at 12 paces,
shipwrecks and pirates, Underground Railroad heroes, the ghost of the French
Castle, and the “Cat-of-the-Mist.”

Eastern Lake Ontario region stories in Sailors, Keepers, Shipwrecks, and the Maid include:
Harriet Tubman and other Underground Railroad heroes, “The Big Cheese,” the War
of 1812 Battle of Big Sandy, a female Commandant at Sackets Harbor, a tale of
two wrecks, and The Whittlesey Woman.